Two O'Clock Courage

Finding himself with a bloodied head, and suffering from amnesia, suave Tom Conway is nearly run over by pretty cab driver Ann Rutherford (as Patty Mitchell). Riding around, Mr. Conway discovers clues to his identity, including five hundred dollars in his suit pocket. A news flash connects Conway to recent murder, but Ms. Rutherford doesn't think her passenger is guilty. The pair try to solve the murder mystery while love blooms. Director Anthony Mann isn't as artful as in later years. "Two O'Clock Courage" turns out to be the name of a play that figures in the plot. By the time the mystery is solved, it's not very interesting. Fortunately, the well-endowed Rutherford, Jane Greer (as Helen Carter), and Jean Brooks (as Barbara Borden) are around to keep it looking good.

****** Two O'Clock Courage (4/13/45) Anthony Mann ~ Tom Conway, Ann Rutherford, Jane Greer, Jean Brooks

Tom Conway and Ann Rutherford star in "Two O'Clock Courage," a 1945 film. Rutherford plays Patty, a taxicab driver who picks up an injured man (Conway) with amnesia. She attempts to help him, and the two are drawn into the murder of a producer. Her fare may or may not have had something to do with it.

This film is more of a mystery/comedy, done with a light touch and a perky Ann Rutherford. She's pretty and bubbly, perhaps a little too much at the beginning of the film. Conway, who somehow, despite a similar voice, never had his brother George Sanders' smoothness, is good as a confused man trying to fake his way through a situation where he doesn't even know his own name.

"Two O'Clock Courage" has plenty of suspects and twists and goes on just a little longer than it needs to, but it's still a fun watch.

Remake of Two in the Dark from RKO starring the unlikely duo of Tom Conway and Ann Rutherford. Conway plays a guy with a head wound and amnesia who searches for the truth about who he is and whether or not he committed murder. Rutherford is the spunky female cabbie who helps him. This is an entertaining enough picture. Nothing exceptional but a good time-passer. Conway, debonair as ever, is the kind of actor they just don't make anymore. Adorable Ann Rutherford is a little miscast as a street-smart cabbie. This is a part more suited for a Farrell, Blondell, or Sothern. Rutherford's just too sweet. Still she's always a treat to watch, even if it does feel a bit like she's trying on her big sister's clothes. Conway/Rutherford chemistry isn't exactly sizzling, either. Also featuring noir great Jane Greer in a small part and RKO favorite Jean Brooks, who was in quite a few Tom Conway films during the 40s. Directed by Anthony Mann but you would never know it as it's a pretty routine B movie with no discernible style or craft to brag about.

This came before Anthony Mann's famous, unique and quirky noir. By the time it was made, there had already been many authentic films noir. However, this updates what had been a formula throughout the thirties: the romantic/comic/mystery. There is romance. There is some comedy. But instead of mystery: We have here a true film noir. (The difference between this and other entries in the genre makes the importance of a good director very clear.) It begins with Tom Conway, in an excellent performance, looking at a sign noting an intersection of two streets. He doesn't know where there are, where he is. Or, even, who he is. Amnesia, yes indeed.

Now the comedy: Ann Rutherford, a female cab driver, happens by and helps him out. She calls her taxi Harry and, later, people get confused and think Harry might be the name of a suspect.

Though this has its light moments, it is a dark little movie. (And little it is, at just a bit longer than an hour.) We have a comic newspaperman and a semi-comic police officer. But we have some genuine bad guys too, and some women who are right out of the noir canon as well.

Among these is Jane Greer in a very early appearance. Though her role is small, she grabs out attention. The camera loves her, almost in the way it was to love a very different sort of performer: Marilyn Monroe. Though Greer doesn't have a lot to do or a whole lot of screen time, when she's around, we can't take our eyes off her. Now, there was real (and sadly underused) star!

Incongruously lighthearted early noir from Mann, involving a familiar premise (the film is actually a remake of the obscure TWO IN THE DARK [1936]) – an amnesiac finds himself the chief suspect in a murder case and, while attempting to trace his identity, he also contrives to expose the guilty party. The lead role is played by Tom Conway, not the most likely noir hero perhaps – his overall stilted performance suffers most when striving for comedy; much more natural (and appealing) is Ann Rutherford as the spirited female cabbie helping him out, even if she's just as much at odds with established genre conventions!

The plot is fairly convoluted: also involved, among others, are Lester Matthews (from THE RAVEN and WEREWOLF OF London {both 1935}), Jean Brooks (from the Val Lewton-produced THE LEOPARD MAN and THE SEVENTH VICTIM {both 1943}) and Jane Greer (soon to graduate to full-fledged femme fatale with OUT OF THE PAST [1947]); just as prominent, however, albeit merely for comic-relief purposes are a Police Inspector and a nosy reporter (who gets on his boss' nerves when he keeps changing the scoop i.e. the identity of the murderer). All in all, this emerged a pleasant and trim 66 minutes – but, clearly, a very minor footnote in the genre and the career of one of its most notable exponents.